Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1423 Shandong Severe Drought ([-])

Shao Shuguang had just recovered from a terrible illness.He was bitten by a mosquito somewhere, and he was "gloriously" infected with malaria. If the subordinates hadn't rushed to find a doctor and took out the cinchona cream from the safe, he might have been in the endless He died in the middle of a fight—however, at the moment when the death rate of Kinney is not low, he, Shao, was able to survive without dying, which is really lucky.

Taiwan malaria, which is very famous in history, finally gave Shao Shuguang a taste this time, and gave him an unforgettable experience.I believe that after this incident, the remaining thoughts of developing Taiwan in his heart have completely disappeared.

After Shao Shuguang recovered, Han Jin, Han Yin, Han Qian, Hashiguchi Junnosuke and other confidantes (Han Ku and Yamashita Yuma were stranded in Miaojie County but did not return) rushed to the Taiwan Bank branch in Zeelandia Greetings, by the way, express your loyalty, and say that you will definitely do a good job in the next period of time, and you will never let Vice President Shao worry about Yunyun.

"There is no need to pay dividends this year and next year. Whether or not to pay dividends in the next year will depend on the situation. I will take this matter on my shoulders. After all, the top two shareholders of the bank also mean this, and other small shareholders will not have any opinions. We To spend as much money as possible to purchase food, the Dutch East India Company is the focus of public relations. They have a deep network of connections in Siam, Burma, and the East Indies, and they can purchase food at a much cheaper price and faster than ours. There are more grains, so if you can find them, you can find them, and if you can't, you can find channels to buy them yourself, understand?" Shao Shuguang, who was leaning on the bedside, said with a pale face.

It is said that Shao Shuguang himself is also a shareholder of the Bank of Taiwan. After several equity adjustments in this large syndicated colonial enterprise, Shao Shuguang currently holds 7.5% of the shares, his father Shao Shude holds 5%, and his brother Shao Yaoguang holds 2.5% of the shares. , The Shao family and his son hold a total of 15% of the shares of Bank of Taiwan, which is quite good.Strictly speaking, it is probably the third force in the board of directors of the Bank of Taiwan other than the local Ministry of Finance and the three major feudal towns in the Far East, and actually controls the company's daily operations, so Shao Shuguang would say that there will be no dividends in two or three years , that is basically a certainty.

"Mr. Peter van Hoon of the Dutch East India Company offered to export enough grain to us, but only if our ships went to the Maluku Islands or the city of Malacca. They didn't have enough big ships to carry all the grain to Taiwan or Ningbo. " Han Jin, who is currently in full-time management of Nanyang grain procurement affairs, reported cautiously: "Due to business relations this year, the total tonnage of the ships they sailed from the East Indies to Taiwan was only 4920 last, and they sailed from Siam to Taiwan. There are 1140 Rusters for the ships in China, and only 320 Rusters for the merchant ships sailing from Tokyo (Vietnam) to Ningbo. The gap is quite large. That is to say, we have to send a large number of ships—preferably steam engine sailing ships—to Nanyang, Otherwise, even if the Dutch are willing to sell, they will not be able to send these grains to us."

"Didn't the Dutch claim to have thousands of ships in Nanyang? How can there be so many large ships that can sail long distances!" Shao Shuguang was not surprised to hear that his subordinates reported that the Dutch were short of capacity, because he already knew that Britain, the Netherlands The two East India companies fought each other in Nanyang, and a large number of ships were transferred (even if there is no war, they may need to perform blockade and security tasks), so the Dutchman will only have a transport capacity of more than 6000 Rast to transport grain to Taiwan and Ningbo Delivery, indeed, is also normal.

"If there are not enough ships, we can only count on the transfer of immigration ships after the end of the immigration transport season in April. There is no other way. But before that, we can also squeeze out six 'Yaksa'-class armed transport ships to Nanyang. Let’s go back and forth and talk about it. It’s a little bit to buy some grain and come back. Remember to bring enough money. If it’s not enough, take some raw silk, tea, and porcelain from the library and sell it south to the Dutch. They will give you a fair price. Damn Yes, this year the entire territory of Ningbo will destroy mulberry and replace it with grain, and next year even some tea gardens will be replanted with grain and beans. With the support of the secretary, he took a sip of water and said with a sigh.

Throughout the summer and autumn of this year, people on the east coast have requisitioned almost all of the immigrant transport ships in batches to transport grain to Nanyang, so that each ship has very little time for overhaul and maintenance, which seriously affects the condition, performance and life of the ships. It has also decreased, so two months after the start of the 1665-1666 immigration transport season, two immigrant ships have sunk off the coast of Palau and New Guinea, causing heavy losses.

After the immigration transport season ends in April this year, it is foreseeable that these ships will not have too long to maintain and refurbish, but will have to transport grain southward in batches, and the intensity is likely to exceed last year, which makes Shao Shuguang and the others felt very suspenseful in their hearts - at the moment when the mainland has not purchased new immigration transport ships to the Far East for several years, if a few more large ships are lost this year, how will the future 1666-1667 immigration transport season be fooled? Woolen cloth?You know, if the luck is not enough, the higher-ups will pursue it, and then everyone will have to suffer!But after thinking about it, there is really no better way. You can’t just watch the victims in Shandong and even the residents under the East Bank starve to death. You can only go south to transport food. At worst, the ship repair yards work overtime day and night, and do everything they can to speed up the ships. Maintenance speed up.If it doesn't work, find a way to raise supplies and cash, let the two shipyards of Heisui and Kushiro build some small and medium-sized sailboats, temporarily train fishermen as sailors, and then go south to transport grain. Who makes Shandong lack of food now?

"If Ningbo can't raise enough silk tea, try to find a way to smuggle some from Jiangnan Province in the Qing Dynasty. If it doesn't work, increase imports from King Lu, Zheng's, and Guangdong, and get as much as you can." Han Qian, who is currently in charge of the daily operation of the entire Haizhu Island Commercial Station, stepped forward and said softly: "Vice President Shao, please take a good rest, we will take care of this matter, and we will never let the Dutch find fault, and we will try our best Please rest assured that more food will be brought back from Nanyang."

"You guys should take care of this matter and don't let me down, otherwise Commander Liang in Denglai will kill me. By the way, as I mentioned last time, many sugarcane fields in Taiwan have been converted into grain fields, but there is a lack of people to cultivate them. How are the negotiations going?" Shao Shuguang asked as if he suddenly remembered something.

"It's still the same. The Dutch are very wary of our people, and they are determined not to resettle Shandong victims to farm here. However, they also agree to increase Taiwan's local rice production, because it is profitable. Ningbo's annual import volume is really It’s too huge. This industry is enough for many businessmen to make a lot of money. Therefore, Governor Kuiyi decided to expand the amount of arable land by 50%, reduce sugarcane production, maintain prices, and increase rice production. This will happen this year. As a result, it is conservatively estimated that Taiwan will be able to export more than [-] shi of grain to us this year." Han Yin, who is currently in charge of the Zeelandia Hong Kong branch, immediately stepped forward and replied: "In addition, my subordinates have inquired about Zheng's news a while ago. I don’t know what was going on in my head, but I started to immigrate to the central area of ​​the west coast of Taiwan Island. And it was very secretive, we didn’t get any information in advance, and it was only when the Dutch went to negotiate. But Zheng They seem to have no fear, and their immigration to the island has not stopped. After all, they also have a foundation on the island. Before Zheng Zhilong got up, there were many Fujian immigrants on the island. Now it is normal to increase immigration. The Dutch are very happy about this. It's helpless."

"The Zheng family has now defeated the remaining main force of the Qing army in Fujian, and has recruited tens of thousands of green battalion soldiers in the whole province. Moreover, they are still competing with Li Chengdong in Chaozhou in the south. This is the time when they are most complacent. They want to immigrate, let them move, as long as they don't come to disturb our business, leave them alone, everyone will go their own way, and no one will hinder anyone." Shao Shuguang was a little weak He said that he was very displeased with the Zheng family. After a pause, he added: "By the way, although Fujian has always been barren and has very little food production. But the Zheng family has great powers, and the connections in the business field It's quite big, Han Yin, you should find a way to go to Fuzhou or Anping for a while, contact the people of the Zheng family, and see if you can collect some food from them. Isn't the Zheng family very rare about our muskets and cannons? There should be quite a lot in the Ningbo government treasury, and Captain Jiang Zhiqing can ask Captain Jiang Zhiqing to take a part out and exchange it with Zheng, it will definitely not go wrong."

"Yes, my subordinates will save it, and I will start to deal with this matter tomorrow." Han Yin replied respectfully: "However, Fujian, which the Zheng family owns, has always been mountainous, and the amount of food may not be much. It seems that the Zheng family has gone to Annan to buy food. grain ships, but it is hard to say how much they will get. Therefore, I estimate that if we can get [-] shi or [-] shi from the Zheng family, it is already the limit, and it is impossible to add more, because their grain Not very rich either.”

"It's a little bit to be able to do it. A hundred thousand shi of grain can barely hang tens of thousands of people for a year without starving to death. What a merit. Go ahead and do it. Commander Liang in Denglai will definitely hear it." Very happy." Shao Shuguang said with a slight smile.

"Vice President Shao, when I mentioned this, I suddenly remembered it. I forgot to report it just now." At this time, Han Qian, who was in charge of the Haizhu Island Commercial Station, suddenly stepped forward and said, "Guangdong Huiguo Gong Li Chengdong sent someone a few days ago Invite your subordinates to a banquet, during which they mentioned that they are willing to donate 15 shi of military rations to our side to help the victims. Well, they have also heard about the Shandong incident. Li Chengdong has always been kind to us, and it is very interesting in many cases. This time he proposed a donation Fifty thousand shi of rice is indeed his usual style. In addition, he also said that he can sell at least [-] shi of grain to us, and the price will be based on the market price. Therefore, I report to you."

"This is a good thing, let's do our best." Shao Shuguang waved his hand and said, "The accounts of the money matter should be prepared for future reference, and you should make up your mind about everything else. By the way, the Nanming court did not mediate the dispute between the Zheng family and Li Chengdong in Chaozhou." ?"

"Of course we mediated, but the effect was poor." Han Qian coughed, and said in a teasing tone: "I heard people in Guangdong say that ever since the tension between Dashun and Nanming and the defeat of the southern Hunan provinces, The Emperor Yongli felt that Guangxi was not safe, and he had already patrolled Kunming under the instigation of his courtiers. During the two or three months of the imperial envoy's stay, he stopped fighting for a while, and then started fighting again, which is really ugly, and the prestige of Emperor Yongli has dropped a lot."

"Hehe, he is also an emperor who is afraid of death." Shao Shuguang smiled when he heard this, and said nothing more.He no longer has any distaste for the Nanming court, so let it die, anyway, the East Bank did not expect it to rise up against the Manchu Qing.Now the idea of ​​the people on the east bank is to trade with the Nanming court to make more money, and everything else is false.At present, the Nanming court has initially agreed to this, and through the direct control of western Guangdong, it will export raw silk and medicinal materials from Guangxi to the people on the east coast, and then import some commodities such as weapons, ammunition, and rare toys. Big or small, so-so.

"There is one more thing about the Portuguese in Macau." After a short silence, Han Qian went to Qianhui to report: "Last month, Mr. Sequeira of Macau City represented the town council and the governor. I ran to Haizhu Island to find my subordinates, talked about the current difficulties in Macau City, and asked us to give them some business. At that time, the superiors were urging a lot of food purchases, so the subordinates allowed these Portuguese to go outside to purchase food. They were sold at Ningbo Dinghai Port, and we bought them all at a price slightly higher than the market price. The Portuguese agreed. Many of their ships should have gone to Nanyang and the Bay of Bengal to look for food. There is no information about Ningbo yet, please let the vice president know in the center."

"Well, I know about this, and I will arrange for people to go." Shao Shuguang nodded when he heard the words, and said, "Anyway, everyone should keep in mind that the Bank of Taiwan is our common cause and the foundation of our future. And If the Bank of Taiwan wants to grow stronger, it is absolutely inseparable from the help and support of the three pioneering teams. Therefore, the Bank of Taiwan must make full preparations for disaster relief when Shandong under Commander Liang’s administration is hit by a disaster. These It will not be paid in vain, and we will earn back exponentially in the future."

"One more thing to pay attention to is that we try not to get involved in the war between the Netherlands and the British, so as not to be dragged into cannon fodder. We must know that Europe is very lively now." Shao Shuguang said again.

(End of this chapter)